Hyde, run away or fight
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: SEQUEL TO UNDER THE FUR. They have only three options and none of them are any good, all of them come with varying risks and downsides and are the product of an unjust world. Dedicated to all the readers who where disappointed/frustrated with my previous story's ending. (Which means everyone who read it)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Guys the ending of my last story was supposed to be open and bittersweet so it could lead to a sequel, the problem is that in stead of implying that I rushed the release of the chapter and it ended up looking like I threw a sucker punch at all of you. It was not my intention. As an apology I give you the first in a 3 part chapter of the sequel, I did this in a rush so expect the quality of the next chapters to be better than this.**

 **As always I'm broke, I don't own anything, don't sue.**

… **.**

They have only three options and none of them are any good: Hide, run away or fight. All of them come with varying risks and downsides and are the product of an unjust world.

Option number 1: Hide.

Of all the options available this was actually the best, it was the only one that allowed them to carry on their careers, hang out with their friends and not breaking the law. They could be together all the time and nobody else would interfere, they could snuggle next to each other in their dark apartment for nights on end and nobody would take that away from them.

This wonderful option had only one tiny little downside, they could never have sex, if they did the pheromones under their fur would advertise any mammal with a keen sense of smell that they broke the law and it wouldn't take long until they were institutionalized in an Asylum for reprogramming. The idea behind this stupid law is that interspecies couplings are a mental disorder and as such they can be treated and cured, the asylum is not supposed to be a punishment only some form of rehabilitation. Now it the medical treatment was actually effective both of them might have considered to go there by their own will, wouldn't it be great to go back they way it was before? Life seemed just so much simpler that way.

But a quick Zoogle research showed that all the medical treatment accomplished was increasing the rate of suicide in their patients by a 200 percent, yes three quarters of the mammals taken to treatment killed themselves within their first five years, the surviving rest lived a miserable lonely life and never dated again.

-"If this treatment is so terrible then why do they keep using it? Can't they see they are causing much more damage this way?"- Judy asked from her usual place in Nick's bed, snuggled next to him with his every limb wrapped around her while she was browsing the web in her I-carrot.

It had become the de facto conversation to have every day off, when work, cases and everyday hassles weren't there to distract them.

-"I have a theory carrots, WE are not sick, therefore they can't cure us because there's no disease to treat. All this places do is make you ashamed of your choice in mate and hammer down the idea that you are sick and there is something wrong with you, something you cannot change, add to it the loneliness you have because your mate was taken away from you and you can see how it all ends up in this."- He said pointing at the horrible statistics shown her phone.

It took a lot of self restraint for her not to throw her phone across the room.

Noticing the tension in his partner he hugged her even tighter and begun to rub his cheek against hers, a low growl emerged from his throat, it almost sounded like a purr. She hugged him back with all her strength, and risked a kiss to his cheek. But he was then the one who tensed and in a flash he left the bed and their apartment not even bothering to say a word.

-"I'm sorry!"- Judy yelled at his fast retreating form, she should have known a simple kiss might have triggered in her partner the desire to mate, so now he had to say away for a few hours until he could cool off.

That's why they never dared to kiss each other on the mouth, there was always the possibility of a slippery slope and then they could never take that back.

She left the apartment as well and went for a run, needing to clear her head too. They should be happier with the way things were, they had a very promising career and a lot of wonderful friends. And they loved each other very much, even spent almost all of their time together. Not even long married couples shared the bond they had.

So what was the importance of sex? It was definitely not worth it to lose all they had. Both took hormone suppressants and neither had ever been the "passionate" type, she was a bunny yes but she had always been so career driven that dates and mating had always been in the last of her priorities, the only reason she went on dates with bucks was to appease her parents and the only bunny she ever came close to feel attracted to had been Julien and had tried to rape her.

Jogging into Savannah main square had always helped her, but today she couldn't ignore the thousands of happy couples that were idly enjoying the sunny afternoon. If anything bothered her about her current situation with Nick is that all of the sudden the romantic movies and books she had always enjoyed now made her gag, in the last three months since Julien's downfall she had gone from a hopeless romantic to a cynical shrew about many things she used to enjoy. Deep down she resented the mammals, real or fictional, that could enjoy something she was forbidden to.

A couple of hippos giggled sweetly as she passed them by, her sensitive ears picked up a snipped of their conversation.

-"You liked your desert babe?"-

-"Not as much as the one we are having as soon as we get to my place"-

The sloppy wet sound of their passionate kiss made her retch with disgust; trying to escape it she ran far from the square and doubled the speed.

Buildings passed around her in a flash and no matter how fast she ran the combination of jealousy and rage would not go away, at a moment she tripped and fell hard on the cold filthy empty street, only then the protest her muscles had been giving her for a while now registered in her brain and she mewled pathetically.

She was glad no one was around to hear her cry; as it struck her like a ram the realization of why mating was such an issue. Sex on itself didn't matter, but it wasn't sex that she wanted, she wanted to make love.

-"Oh look what we have here, a poor little bunny crying on the floor"- A large wolf said pouting and feigning sympathy.

Judy lifted her head and saw the wolf smirking at her, then a weasel and a fox appeared by his side, she had been a cop long enough to know they were criminals and she could guess their intentions.

On Shaky hind legs she stood, and for a moment she considered warning the miscreants that she was a cop, but they had made the bad decision to mess with her right when she was in a very foul mood, so she chose to play a little with these punks.

Looking around she said truthfully –"I think I got lost"-

-"Don't worry cutie, give us all you have and we'll take you home"- The weasel extended his paw towards her demanding her wallet and phone.

Oh that's it, those guys are gonna pay.

-"DON'T CALL ME CUTE!"- She yelled at them with a powerful roar, then took the weasel by the wrist and threw him at his partners, all canides fell to the floor and before they had time to stand up and fight back she was on top of the wolf delivering two hooks at his head, as soon as the wolf laid limp on the floor she delivered a hard kick to the fox's stomach that was right next to them knocking the air out of him.

The weasel tried to run away but after a few steps she managed to catch him and twisted his arms below his back, he tried to kick her away but she lifted him from the ground and stamped him on a nearby wall using only her little arms.

….

Trunkaby and Rhinowicks were on patrol nearby and were more than happy to take the criminals to the precinct, but when they told Judy that precinct 10 in the nocturnal district had issued a warrant against the trio she asked them if she could take those three to the tenth immediately.

In the last few months the nocturnal district had been like a second home for her and Nick, it was a place where mammals could do whatever they wanted and no one would judge you for it. They had managed to be affectionate in several places in "Las Cuevas" and no one had given them even a side glance, she knew that if they ever managed to live like a full couple the only place they could pull this off was in the nocturnal district, interspecies relationships were technically illegal there as well but it would fall in the thousand laws that the district chose to ignore. The place was also home of one of the largest interspecies underground communities in Zootopia, with the resulting hybrids living even below in a peaceful community called Udertopia, where Golitah and his friends lived on both sides of the law. Nick and Judy had spent several nights in there, pretending they were just a regular couple hanging out and having fun.

The idea had formed in her head almost a month ago; Nick wasn't too sure about it when he heard it at first but didn't discard it either. They could ask to be translated to district 10, it was one of the most underfunded and corrupted district in the whole city where the worse cadets ended up. For hero cops working on the first district, the crown jewel of the police force, district 10 would be a very demeaning experience but for Judy it might be worth it.

She called Nick and explained him what had happened, he had been angry at her for ending up on such a dangerous position while alone, she had told him she could take good care of herself and that he should be giving her more credit. Trunkaby and Rhinowicks rolled their eyes at the lover's fight as they drove to the Nocturnal district, the wolf, fox and weasel in the back of the squad car looked equally annoyed.

Judy knew it was probably not the right time to ask for it but she didn't want to miss the opportunity

-"Nick, I'm going to the tenth precinct to deliver the suspects, would you like to meet me there?"- She asked with trepidation, knowing that what she really wanted was to use the excuse of delivering these criminals to talk to the Chief Garra of the tenth and see if relocation was possible or even worth it.

Nick responded tiredly –"Yeah carrots I'm going, are you sure they didn't hurt you?"-

-"For the last time, I'm fine. I'll see you in the tenth!"- She said cheerfully and hung up.

Nick groaned as he took a cab to meet his carrots " _My mom was right that bunny will be the death of me"_. Relocating to the tenth was actually something he had considered several times, both civilians and officers in that district had a strict "don't ask don't tell" policy not only on who you chose to mate, but on anything you did behind closed doors.

But that policy stemmed on something that would not fit Judy in the slightest if she chose to work there, lack of funds plus inexperienced and underestimated officers usually added up to a crap ton of corruption. Someone as straight as her would probably send all her coworkers to prison or get killed trying. The only reason they guessed they could get away with being openly interspecies is that everyone else would be breaking the law one way or another and the least they could want in that situation is the attention of the authorities.

But at the same time the idea was tantalizing, deep underground in that non judgmental society they might be able to be themselves, even if that meant they had to live in the filth of the most crooked precinct. They could hide from the uptight detractors of their love in the dark caves of the nocturnal district, below the life they used to have but also from the "concerned citizens" that had nothing better to do than get into other mammal's business.

It wasn't a decision they should rush into, even when keeping it platonic somehow wasn't an option anymore, but hiding in the dark could be.


	2. Chapter 2

Option two: Run away.

The Jaguar running the tenth precinct, Chief Garra, called them to his office then he gave the fox and the bunny a sympathetic gaze. –"I understand your plight, officers, believe me I do. But I don't think joining this precinct will help you"-

Garra didn't need any explanation on why two popular and awarded officers working in the best precinct asked to be moved into the worst, as a feline his sense of smell surpassed even a canide's and he could smell the pheromone mark officer Wilde had placed all over Hopps, even when there had been no mating between them to cement it. –"Had it been any other couple your plan would have worked, but both of you are basically famous, moving to this district would give you even more attention than staying were you are. And that attention is not something this place need, neither the interspecies community that has managed to live in peace in the Nocturnal District. The last thing we want is to bring the media focus on your activities here"-

Not willing to give up Judy pleaded –"Sir you speak as if we were celebrities, yes the Night Howler case had a high profile but that was almost two years ago"-

-"It isn't that case that I am talking about, very recently the whole judicial system has been torn down and as soon as mammals know you were the ones who singlehandedly destroyed the corruption in the Zootopia court you will become celebrated heroes. To make this worse for you as heroes you will be expected to have an impeccable conduct, your whole actions will be monitored and if your hum"- The Jaguar had trouble finding the right words –"Special partnership comes up it will be very difficult to manage, the general populace is already against interspecies couples as the Vice President is a huge supporter of the reprogramming program, if you bring this anti-inter media focus in here you could destroy our own interspecies community"- .

Nick hid as always behind his lay back expression and gave the Jaguar an innocent look –"I don't know what you are talking about Chief, Cassandra Mau was the one who brought Lapin and his cronies to Justice"-

Chief Garra rolled his eyes showing the sly fox he wasn't falling for his ruse -"Mau is a very shy and modest mammal, she never liked the idea of taking all the credit so she has been thinking of a way to give you the commendation you both deserve, every officer in Zootopia knows you were really responsible for all this it is a matter of time until it comes out"-

-"Is it that obvious? Our "special partnership" I mean, if the media focuses on us even if we don't mate. Could they see we love each other?"- Judy asked concerned

-"A blind mole could see that Officer Hopps, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who knows you does. It is not fair, I know. But I am afraid it's the way of the world"- Garra said shrugging.

The doe sighed in despair –"What are we going to do now?"- She asked no one in particular, Nick placed a paw over hers giving her as much comfort as the situation allowed. Neither of them thought Chief Garra would come with an answer, but the large feline surprised them.

-"If I were you I would leave far away from here"-

-"Away from Zootopia?"- Judy said fearful

-"Away from the country, this is confidential but"- He said inching closer to them and spoke in a hushed voice –"The anti-inter laws are about to become more drastic, raids are programmed to strike in the underground inter communities and after that happens they will target specific couples, before we know it even the mammals that belong in the same genus will be banned as well. As I said, the Vice President is a staunch interphobic, so is the President who supported his stance, and they are about to launch a huge media smear campaign against mammals like you. If your relationship becomes public, scratch that, if a _rumor_ of your relationship becomes public the powers that be will use you as an example for the reprogramming initiative. I am doing my best to stall the raids and I'm trying to warn the inters about what is coming, but trust me when I tell you that things are about to get much worse"-

The couple in front of him saluted with a terrified and heartbroken expression and left his office in a hurry, doing their best not to break down in front of the Chief. Garra growled at the fact that it was him instead of Bogo the one who had to give them "the chat" of what was to come. He heard that Bogo's mantra was not caring about his officer's personal life but this was ridiculous, his best team was on the verge of ending up in Bedlam and that buffalo hadn't even bothered to handle the situation ahead. His paws slammed so hard on the intercom in his desk he almost broke it, after a few rings he hear the voice of the Chief of the first district.

-"Chief Bogo speaking"-

-"Hey Mason we need to talk"- Garra managed not to yell, at least not yet.

-"Gabriel?"- The buffalo's voice perked up at the sound of his friend's voice –"What's happening?"-

-"You are a god dammed idiot that's what's happening. I just had to tell Officers Wilde and Hopps they have to leave the country before _we_ have to send them to reprogramming. Don't you see that with the new initiative this can't be just hidden away?"- The jaguar's voice was rising.

He heard the buffalo sigh at the other side of the line.

-"I know about their issue but there is no need to be so drastic, we will keep quiet and hidden behind the blue wall, they'll be fine. Even when the whole investigation about the Zootopia court spills into them, we'll keep them safe."-

Garra suspected Bogo had yet been informed about how pervasive this anti-inter initiative was, the problem with Bogo being so honest is that he would rarely get much information from the underground circles and that meant he would be kept out of important data. Rolling his eyes the jaguar sent him an e-mail with the details of the Vice-President's plan.

-"Check your e-mails Mason, and call me when you're done"- Garra hung up and waited 20 minutes until the intercom rang again.

-"This is not possible! It's a violation of mammal rights! Your source must be wrong"- Bogo's voice rumbled through the speaker.

-"Read it and weep Mason, this is how things are about to get in here. Your officers' better leave before the shit hits the fan, unless you have a better idea"- Garra was rubbing his forehead; a splitting headache was rearing its ugly head.

-"I do not, but I know someone who does. Thanks for the heads up Gabriel, are we still on for poker night?"- The confidence in Bogo's voice was not unnoticed by the jaguar; maybe he wasn't as oblivious as he thought.

-"Sure thing mason, meet ya on Thursday"-

A soon as he hung up the water buffalo grabbed his phone and sent a text message.

{We need to start moving with our plan, its much worse than we thought}

{I suspected so chief, don't worry I have been working on this already. When do we get to talk to them?}

{Can you have all the details ready by tomorrow? That's when they are starting their shift and the sooner we begin the better}

{I have everything under control you can trust me}

{When it comes to these matters I always do}

{And you should, I am the best! XD. Buckle up chief, this is gonna get intense}

{I know}

…

When they arrived to their apartment Judy crawled into their bed and cried her eyes out, Nick tried to snuggle next to her but she pushed him away, the conversation they had with Garra had made her realize how sick their relationship was perceived and how hopeless their situation had become. Why did society hate them? Why was it so important to others who they chose to love? It's not like they were hurting anyone other than themselves.

She didn't realize she had cried herself asleep until she woke up at 2 am, her bleary eyes had trouble seeing in their dark apartment, she looked for her partner and found him sitting in the kitchen table looking pensively at a large stack of papers in front of him. She walked closer to him but before she could utter an apology he simply told her:

-"It's too late to go back isn't it carrots?"- He said without a hint of hope in his voice

-"Nick we've both been through this, if being apart was an option we would have taken it, but the bond we have is too strong, I need you and you need me"- She remembered how anguished and emotional she was when she was separated from Nick those few days she spent in Bunnyburrow as the judicial system crashed and burned. It wasn't just the space distance that separated them; it was the idea that after all this they might have to take a break of whatever type of relationship they were having. Being physically apart for a while wasn't a big issue, but the mere thought of never seeing him again or ending their relationship was enough to send her into a panic attack.

From what she gathered from Finnik from those few days apart Nick had gone into a very aggressive change of personality, apparently their species were very different but shared one thing in common, once they chose a mate they stuck with it forever. So it seems that when they marked each other their fates were sealed, and if mating made such a big difference they would have been able to detach emotionally at some point, but it appears sex is not that important when you bond with someone.

She inched closer to him placing her arms around his shoulders and looked at the papers he had been staring at, they were maps.

The world, well a representation of it, lay in front of them. Judy was overwhelmed with a feeling of hope; she imagined herself and Nick traveling through it, discovering different nations and costumes without caring about hiding who they were. Suddenly Garra's advice was no longer the death of their hopes but an open door to a whole new possibility.

-"This could be such a great adventure!"- She said vibrating with glee.

-"Glad you think that way, actually I think I found a nice place we could settle"- He loved how she could go from despair to joy in a matter of seconds the moment a single option appeared in front of her.

-"Settle? Nope we are gonna be globetrotters Nick, we are gonna travel the whole world!"- She said almost jumping with joy and forcefully grabbing him placing her cheeks next to his as her free paw stretched out in a swiping motion above them, as if she was presenting him the endless dreams and possibilities dancing in her head.

-"Don't get over yourself carrots, it's not like traveling is cheap. I don't know how are we gonna manage to get enough money to leave as it is."- He hated popping her happy bubble but if left unchecked she could make both of them end up in a god forsaken part of the world with no chance of going back.

She was undeterred, but at least conceded a little on her big ideas. –"How about this for a plan, we go where you want first and then when we have enough money we travel somewhere else, some place I choose. Where do you wanna go anyway?"- She remembered he had picked a place but hadn't yet told her where.

He gave her a map of the south continent

-"Amazonia?"- She said exited, it was the nation the Rainforest District had been modeled after.

-"No, too wet and hot, I was thinking going more to the south"-

-"Patagonia?"- She lifted an eyebrow, she heard it was a great place to hide and had beautiful landscapes but it could get very cold and neither of them liked cold temperatures.

His paw tapped the tiny country, barely bigger than Zootopia, which was in the middle of those two –"I think we should go to Pradera, it looks a lot like the Meadowlands but also has great beaches. It has a moderate climate like our Savanna District and most important of all, they have very progressive laws when it comes to interspecies. Not to mention most countries wouldn't just let us live there without years of paperwork, like Animalia for example or New Zooland up north, but these guys consider inters as liable to get refugee visas."-

Judy zoogled pictures of the small and inconspicuous country, green soft hills and meadows filled her screen, along with peaceful beaches. Its main city was like any other metropolis out there, with tall buildings that reminded her of Savanna's downtown. It was lovely, quaint and maybe too peaceful for her taste, but she would be there with her favorite fox and that was all that mattered.

-"When could we go?"- She said as a thousand butterflies frolicked in her belly.

-"If we start our paperwork tomorrow after work, one month, assuming there are no setbacks. That means we don't have much time to get money, the property in there is not expensive but it's still more than we can afford right now."-

-"How far could we go with ten thousand dollars?"- She said with a sly smile.

Nick told her suspiciously –"It might be enough to survive until we find a job and a place to rent"- he looked at his own abandoned place –"Or squat"-

She ran from her side almost bouncing and rummaged to the bottom of his old rusted oven, from there she retrieved a wooden box and in a heartbeat she was by her side handing him the item. Inside of it there were more dollars than he had laid eyes on since his conmammal days.

-"WTF carrots where did this come from?"- How did this bunny always managed to surprise him like that? He considered himself an expert in reading mammals and he thought he had Judy completely figured out by now.

-"I hustled it"- She told him with a mischievous smile wiggling her eyebrows.

-"Har har. Well as a police officer I am forced to interrogate you before sending you to jail"- He joked then rolled his eyes, like she were capable of acting out of the law –"Spill it you criminal mastermind"-

-"Remember when my family had trouble with the farm? Well their crops had been basically cut in half that meant half the produce to sell which meant they had half their usual profit, but then I got in touch with Goliath after I came back from Bunnyburrow. Did you know the hybrids have to pay for their supplies seven times more than anyone else because nobody wants to sell to them since they are out of the law? So I made a deal with them, we sell them our produce at three times the value we sell to the mammals in Bunnyburrow but for them is still less than half of what they usually pay. It covers the costs of shipping, my family's farm gets what usually earns on normal years and I get a little bit of the final cut."-

With a hint of pride he thought he had taught her well, there were many ways to win money by dodging the law instead of breaking it, after all what she did was technically not illegal and nobody would consider pressing charges for selling fruits and vegetables.-"That is one hell of a hustle carrots, but why did you hid that from me?"-

She bowed her head and seemed a little embarrassed, the way her perky ears twitched as she looked at her feet was so adorable he held back the "awww" begging to rise from his lips -"I was gonna give you a surprise for your birthday, I was planning on buying you a car or a down payment for rent so we could go live at a better place, whatever you chose. I was my way to say thank you for all you did for me."-

-"I love you"- He said without thinking, it wasn't a big deal anyway. Sure they had never said that to each other in a serious way but they had demonstrated their feelings through a million other ways by now, still he felt like a corny little pup as soon as the words were uttered.

She jumped at him and placed her twitching nose over his, the warmth that invaded him made him wonder if this sign of affection wasn't turning him into an emotional bunny as well.

-"I love you too"- She said with an adorable smile.

He stopped as without even realizing his muzzle was millimeters from hers, they had been so close to kissing, and he was sure that a simple kiss would had led them to a lot more. He knew that because he wanted to make love to her so badly his skin hurt and an annoying pressure was building in his stomach, why where the hormone suppressants unable to stop his lust over her? He should get the hell out of that room and not come back after he collected himself but he also knew that every time he did that she was faced with their awful situation and felt distressed. But guess what, not this time. He wouldn't let _this_ get in the way of their beautiful moment together so he hustled his way out of it.

With half lidded eyes and a knowing smile he told her –"I have an idea carrots, why don't we go for a night in Las Cuevas? I know we have to work tomorrow but I'm too hyped up to sleep and we should celebrate our upcoming trip to the Deep South."- He was hoping a night out would distract him enough to cool down on his own.

-"That would be great!"- She said hugging him even tighter.

…

They were dancing, or technically stumbling since neither of them knew how to dance properly, in the wonderful main ballroom of The Marble Pit. Not even the delicious drinks had managed to calm down the euphoria both felt at their uncertain but exiting future. Around them many couples danced along to the Jazz music and both noticed several of them were interspecies.

It had been a great night out, the perfect way to remove the sour taste their dismissal of the tenth precinct had left on their palates. It was close to 5 am, soon they would have to head to their apartment and get ready for a full work day and a stressful chat with the Praderian ambassador, assuming he would meet them. To Judy that wasn't the reason her smile was slowly turning into a look of concern.

-"What is it carrots?"- Her dance partner dragged her from her dark thoughts.

-"It's nothing"- She didn't want to spoil the mood.

-"Need I remind you we made a full honesty pact?"- He swayed her to the side and tried to make her spin but she tripped halfway and would had landed on her tail in the marble floor if he hadn't cached her at the last minute.

-"We are terrible at this"- She laughed embarrassed, he chuckled nodding his head but kept his eyes on her reminding the bunny he hadn't forgot his question.-"I was thinking about them Nick"- She said looking at the assorted couples in the ballroom –"I mean we are going away, but what will happen to all these inter couples? If this initiative is as bad as Garra told us shouldn't we do something about it?"-

" _No no no carrots, you are not dragging me into one of your crusades this time. There is too much danger and I rather chain you in our apartment until we go to Pradera than running the risk of letting them take you to Bedlamb"_ Nick thought in a panic, but he also knew he had to dissuade the bunny out of fighting these kind of windmills a la Quixote in the least aggressive way possible, the chain he would leave as a plan B.

-"The best way to fight this might be to speak our mind and offer out support from Pradera, if we are out of the country they won't be able to silence us. Besides if it is as good as a hideout as it seems we might help other inters escape there if things get too ugly in here."-

He waited in baited breath as she considered his idea –"It could work, we could use the hybrids as the middlemammals"- She smiled and he breathed in relief.

They were out of the club and heading their apartment when Judy received a call from Bogo

-"Hopps!"- His baritone voice said in full authority

-"Yes Chief?"- She was worried; her boss wouldn't call at this hour unless it was a really serious issue.

-"Get Wilde and come to the precinct as soon as you can, we have an emergency meeting scheduled at 6:30. There is something very important I need to discuss with both of you"- Then the irascible buffalo hung up.

Judy looked at her fox; he seemed as concerned as her. He had good hearing but it wasn't like you need it to hear her conversation when their boss's usual volume ranged between loud and commercial plane taking off.

-"I think we are in trouble"- they said in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

Option 3: Fight

Nick and Judy entered the bullpen in their customary uniforms, to their surprise a lot of unknown mammals were crowding it, among them was their boss. But instead of towering in front of all the mammals present as usual, Chief Bogo sat on the floor with a casual expression.

-"You called for us Chief?"- Judy said apprehensively

-"Yes, today we are putting together a plan against the new anti interspecies initiative. I have contacted an expert to help us with it, he will be talking to us shortly"- The buffalo said signaling the somewhat empty space on the floor in the middle of the room, the rest was filled with so many mammals they could barely move.

Awkwardly they managed to sit on the floor, they were surprised to see their usually domineering boss sitting humbly next to the rest of the officers, for once the burden of leadership was not on his shoulders and it was obvious he welcomed the feeling.

-"May I ask who this expert is?"- Nick said casually, Bogo's only response was a knowing smile.

The door opened and Clawhouser gave a friendly wave to the large crowd, his smile was beaming as he sat in the desk and addressed everyone –"Hey guys, I came up with a plan to stop this initiative before it gets out of hand, time is running out so let's start shall we?"-

Both the fox and bunny were shocked, they looked at their boss with raised eyebrows, Clawhouser was the expert? There had to be a mistake.

In the words, or more accurately lyrics of the 80's diva Pat Benaclaw "Love is a Battlefield", and in that battlefield there was no better strategist tan Benjamin Clawhauser. It was easy to underestimate him because of his friendly cheerful personality and his obesity, but you don't work on the first precinct unless you are one of the best at what you do, and what he was good at is to manage and interconnect information and resources. That ability easily translated into a fantastic skill when it came to read, analyze and handle social media and its tendencies.

Ever since the Night Howler case that became a very important tool, at the beginning of the anti predator outbreak he was able to spot potential hate raids from both sides either predators or prey. That was until they demoted him into the basement, that's when he experienced firsthand how it felt to be the victim of undeserved hate, he vowed to himself to never let anyone else be discriminated for the way they were born.

He is also one of the most cunning mammals when it comes to planning and plotting schemes, if he were a political advisor his candidate would rule the world. Yet he never cared about power, he only wanted to help other mammals and do something good for his community. Behind his good natured giggles and childish mannerisms hid a maquiavelic mind, if Maquiavelo were more interested in turning the world into a happy sunshine rainbow of love instead of achieving power.

And now his skills were more than necessary, because a new storm of hatred was looming over the horizon. But this time he wouldn't let it destroy the city, not after what he had went through after the species war triggered by the night howler case. This was much more devious than the prey vs. predator war; this would look acceptable at first, since it only seemed to reinforce an already established law. But little by little he knew it would be worse, first this program would target interspecies couples of different genus, then it would go after the ones of different species from the same genus, then the hybrids would lose the little rights and representation they had. Once every inter was erased from the city the next target would be gays, since the main argument for how wrong those relationships were was that species of different genus couldn't conceive and those of similar genus could give birth to hybrids, so gay couples will easily fit that description as well.

To add insult to injury, many mammals suspected that interspecies relationships had been going on from the dawn of history, perhaps even from the stone age. What if everyone was in a little way a hybrid? Where would the witch hunt end?

When Hopps and Wilde fell in love he was happy about them and he saw in those two the promise of a union that would breach the torn relationship between predators and preys. It was kinda cute the way they thought they were hiding their relationship from their co workers and the world in general. He laughed at the idea that those two saw themselves as keeping their love in secret and their interspecies nature in the closet, as if every single police officer in the precinct hadn't seen how they felt about each other several months before they realized about their own feelings themselves.

There were rumors at first when Judy reentered the force after Bellweather's imprisonment, seeing how she went to get Wilde's help instead of contacting the police, but it was sooo obvious after the fox begun to work as her partner. The tell tale signs were the way they looked at each other all the time, or the loyalty they professed on the street every single day and the help they generously gave whenever they needed it.

Sure the bond between partners in the force was usually a very strong one, but it formed over years of working together, between those two it was almost instantaneous.

Clawhauser was not only a strategist, he was also quite the matchmaker, he was a hopeless romantic and couldn't help himself to make mammals happy and try to set them up in dates. In the case of those two he tried to stay away, since it would be an illegal relationship he didn't feel like meddling so they wouldn't have to break the law. But something happened three months ago, something triggered a spark between them and a change of personality in Wilde, after the courtrooms downfall fiasco it wasn't difficult for the other officers to puzzle what had happened. Lapin had hurt Hopps, Nick had taken a gruesome revenge on the rabbit and as collateral damage the entire judicial system was brought down.

Now they were in a relationship and instead of helping to heal the wounds of the previous species war they were about to leave the country under fear of imprisonment, but not in his watch. He would not let hatred destroy his friends and his city once more, love is a battlefield and now it is time to fight the war.

With an iron resolve he walked towards the bullpen, this meeting would be much different from the previous ones. When he entered the room he found a huge group of mammals already there, they were so many that the desks were moved to the sides so all the attendants would sit on the floor, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to fit in.

Inside the bullpen there were several chiefs and officers from the different districts in Zootopia, as well as soldiers from many other forces and even agents of the ZBI, Bogo was among them. It was a little weird to see the Chief humbly sitting on the floor instead of towering over the officers in the precinct, beside him Chief Mau sat with her legs crossed and looked at Clawhouser with a hopeful expression. Now THAT is a couple that needs a matchmaker, screw the anti interspecies law, he would fight until that stupid thing was discarded from the penal code. Bogo is head over heels in love with her, sure he is much better at hiding his feelings than Wilde or Hopps but Benjamin is an expert at reading body language. Mau on the other paw is quite oblivious about his feelings but she does feel admiration for the Chief, there might be some hope for those two, Benjamin will work on them as a side project.

In the middle of the group sat the bunny and fox that are about to change Zootopia for the better and help breach the divide that is threatening to tear it apart at the seams, again. He can tell they know of the idea of the meeting by the hopeful and worried expression on their faces.

The fat cheetah walks into the bull pen and sits on the large desk, everyone stops talking as soon as he clear his throat, he should be intimidated by the fact that he is facing the representation of at least a third of all the police officers in Zootopia. But this is his territory; he is the one in charge when it comes to these matters.

-"I need to ask all of you, which ones here present are interspecies?"- His voice never loses its kind personality but he manages to convey a deep sense of seriousness.

Half the attendants raise their paws: among them there is Wilde, Hopps, Bogo, Garra and many other officers from different districts and agents of several forces, he can't help noticing Mau isn't one of them.

-"I assume the rest are not, but you support our cause"- He said more gravely this time, even when the room was full to the brim, he was hurt that many faces were missing from the crowd. There were many mammals that he had expected to show up yet were now not present, many from the first district.

-"Yes"- the rest of the mammals said in unison, though some just nodded their heads gravely.

-"Good, as you know a new initiative is about to force all members of the force to hunt down interspecies couples and we need a plan to stop this from happening. Because if it does, we will be force to imprison not only a lot of innocent civilians, but also ourselves and our partners in the force. Now you have been called here because I have a plan, but let me warn you that there it a lot to lose, if we fail you won't be able to hide in the closet and you will be targeted by the interphobes."-

Grumbling and growling sounds emerge from the large crowd but everyone agrees that they are willing to pay the price, every single mammal in that room has a determined look on their eyes; if they wanted to hide they wouldn't be here.

-"We have to stop this before it gets worse than the anti-predators attacks!"-

-"We are not hurting anyone"-

Many more angry expletives emerged from the group, satisfied Clawhouser shushed them gently.

-"This is the thing, we cannot attack the vice-president, he is too powerful. But we can make the citizens in Zootopia realize that inters are not their enemies and definitely not a threat to society or the populace. And that is where Hopps and Wilde come along"- Clawhouser pointed at the fox and bunny –"They are charismatic and the media loves them, they also make a lovely couple. They will help Zootopia see inters not as deviate strangers but as relatable mammals, especially after they take the credit for cleaning up the entire court"-

-"Yeah there's just a little problem with that, aren't they gonna hate us when the media finds out their decorated heroes are twisted inters? Because I'm pretty sure that's the way we'll be portrayed"- Nick said bitterly, remembering the talk he had recently with Garra.

Clawhouser gave them a smug smile and told Judy in a cunning tone while he clasped both paws under his huge double chin –"You are so right Hopps, he can be such a dumb fox sometimes"- Judy merely giggled in response.

Then the large cheetah told them proudly-"That is why you won't come out of the closet right away, at first you will pose as the most effective team in the first precinct and good friends, only after you become the most popular officers in the whole city they will know the truth. And when they do, believe me it's not going to be something scandalous. Because when you make your relationship public it will be on your terms and under the approval of god itself"-At the puzzled expression of every attendant he continued while munching a chocolate donut, he would need the energy.

-"I have contacted reverend Carl Skankton, as you might know he is adamant on the inclusion of relegated groups and minorities into the church and society in general. For years he has preached for equality among mammals. He will make sure that interphobes cannot excuse their hatred on the idea that their union is unholy, in fact why don't we let the reverend explain this himself?"- He then begun to set everything up for the teleconference. The reverend would have likely come in person but he was worried that would raise too much suspicion from the higher authorities.

There was a laptop over the desk, clawhouser lit it up and turned the screen at the attendants, the image displayed a small skunk. It would be easy to dismiss such a small creature but everyone who ever heard of the reverend knew his small size contained a gigantic loud and impassionate personality.

His voice was grave and resonated like he were a skilled baritone -"My friends, we are facing a wave of hate and exclusion that will take more lives than the last three wars. But this time we have a secret weapon on our side, the church has gotten tired of carrying the blame of massacres past and it will no longer support the prejudices that had been plaguing our society since it was created. Now the holy spirit will make sure that everyone knows you are loved. When the time is right, all interspecies couples in Zootopia will meet under the same roof and we will give our blessings to your union. Because this time our church has grown tired of looking the other way"-

-"Would it be like a wedding?"- Delgato asked nervous, he and Snarlov had been having a hidden relationship for months now, being both gays and inters they were sure to never show their feelings in public. Coming out in such a public way scared him.

-"Weddings are legal unions that allow rights and benefits to the couples, that assertion only belongs to the law. What we are going to do is let all Zootopia know that god is on your side, that he loves you as much as he loves anyone else. All interspecies unions will be considered right and accepted under the eyes of the church. Besides not all inters are mated, yet they will be accepted as well."- The reverend continued.

-"That will terminate the ability of the media to portray you as a dark filthy fetish, your unions will be considered as holy as regular ones, at least in the eyes of the church"- Clawhouser said smiling, his tail twitched in excitement.

-"And what will happen after that? I don't think the interphobes are going to give up, even if we have the support of the church"- Judy asked

-"All hell will break loose, that is what will happen. When we take a stand as inters the interphobes will attack us through the media and the law. It will be up to us to defend ourselves, we will have to organize protests to bring down the reprogramming facilities and we have to make sure they are peaceful. That is where the non-inters who support us come through, they will have to keep the peace without adding on the brutality. It is possible that once we come out of the closet we will lose our job as officers of the law"- He gave a meaningful look at Mau, for once in his life he was glad she wasn't inter herself. –"Are you sure you want to participate? Technically speaking this is not your fight"- He told the pretty cat.

Cassandra placed her paw on his hoof, her large green eyes locked on his -"The inter supporters will stand up for you, this is our fight as much as it is yours. We will threaten the city with a strike if necessary to keep the city council to fire you based on your preferences"- the determination in her voice made him shudder inside.

-"That is where the other guys are coming in"- The chief of the fourth precinct in Sahara Square, a camel named Kenan C'naan stood up and addressed the crowd. Benjamin was surprised he had showed up since he was very vocal against interspecies relationships and very conservative in general -"Let me tell ya something, I am not an inter and I don't like what you do. But I'll be damn if I waste my resources putting all you freaks in jail while murderers, rapists and robbers get scot free because we are too busy chasing after you. So all the officers in my precinct are gonna help you out on this one, I don't care if we have to besiege this city I am not going through another species war again. Do what you have to do and we will have your back, but you better make it peacefully and fast"-

-"I am an inter myself"- A handsome rabbit in a dark suit said in a smooth voice, a beautiful arctic vixen placed her paw over his shoulder –"But the stance of many members of the ZBI concurs with Chief C'naan, we cannot afford another group of mammals to be prosecuted this way, the united nations would be forced to sever ties with us if this initiative carries on. Many of the details in the small print of this initiative are considered crimes against mammalkind, we as a nation could be sanctioned by the international community. We will lend as much resources as possible to make sure all protests stay peaceful"-

Clawhouser was relieved; his plan might have not work without so much support. Soft knocking on the door brought his attention and he opened it, he had been afraid the higher ups would have found about the meeting and tried to stop his plan before he could set it in motion. When he opened it he saw the rest of the officers in the first district, as well as other mammals from de CSI to the forensics, three fourths of the force had appeared on his doorstep.

-"Sorry we are late, is just that some of us needed a little more time to see if we were up to the fight"- Trunkaby said giving him a large box filled with donuts. His smile was so big it seemed to split his face in two, he gave the elephant a huge enthusiastic hug.

The overly crowded room became even fuller, so much that the smaller mammals had to sit on top of the bigger ones if they wanted everyone to fit in. It got uncomfortable for many of them especially for Nick as he sat next to Judy on top of Mc Horn, turning his head he couldn't help a smile to form in his muzzle at the adorable way Bogo blushed having Mau sitting on his lap, Judy couldn't suppress the sharp 'awww' sound forming on her throat at the spectacle.

The fox had wanted to run away from this upcoming conflict. But when there was so much at stake and so many mammals willing to put their life, career and future on the line he knew there was no way Judy would agree on leaving them alone, she was always the optimistic fighter of the two and this war was worth it. He held her paw and looked at Clawhouser with a determined expression.

-"You call the shots Benj, tell us what to do"- He said determined.

…

" _Smile to the cameras"_ that's what they were instructed to do. Mau had been wonderful at dealing with the press conference, she twisted the facts about Lapin's case to make it seem like Hopps and Wilde had retrieved the evidence through regular detective work instead of an illegal breach of privacy. Judy had been terrified to speak at the reporters at first, considering what had happened last time she did that it was understandable.

Nonetheless shyness and modesty would get them nowhere, their mission wasn't to shed light on an almost closed case, they needed to charm the population. Without Nick's help and support beside her she thought she would have fainted or ran the hell out of there, but by the third interview she was almost as charming as he.

The following weeks had been frustrating, they spent more time talking to the media than doing actual police work, even worse Nick had to refrain himself from marking her as to not tip off any reporter with a keen sense of smell. At least Judy could place her nose over his sometimes, it made him feel giddy inside even if it did not quench the primal need to mark her all the time.

She had moved out to the floor upstairs of his abandoned building, making a place of her own as she had promised she would do when she first came here, before they decided they wanted to be together all the time.

The fox was about to lose his mind, he knew the big ceremony would have to happen soon, all he could do to hold on was reminding himself that as soon as it happened he wouldn't have to hide who he was anymore.

The cheetah had been bouncing around the walls preparing for it, it was taking so much energy from the cat that he had lost a lot of weight. A few days ago he had confided in Nick the fact that this was snowballing out of control, his plan had started when he contacted inter communities through the internet, even he had been shocked of how many inters were in the different forces. When the underground circles heard there was a way to gain acceptance they had flooded Benjamin's e mail account asking to participate, the ceremony was supposed the happen in a church but it was clear they would not fit in, so he had Bogo pull some strings in order to get a stadium instead. Thank heavens for the Hopps clan, after hearing of Clawhouser's problem Judy contacted her family and before the cheetah could say anything a swarm of bunnies came to his aide and helped with the necessary preparations.

Even Nick's mother was excited about the whole thing, something remarkable considering that while Vivien Wilde had been glad by the way Judy turned his conmammal son into a police officer, she had not been happy about her precious vulpine kit dating a bunny. But faced with the option of seeing him happy with Judy on Zootopia or not seeing him again because he was eloping far from the country she set up a meeting with the Hopps to think of a way out of this mess. It had been a very awkward conversation for both sides, but a few heated arguments and some drinks later both families agreed that their children should have the right to be together.

…

The big day, or rather night was coming. A few hours from now Nick, Judy and a thousand interspecies couples (and some singles) would crowd the largest stadium on the city and take a stand against prejudice. They weren't alone, many inter supporters, usually the couple's family and friends would stand by their side. Even mammals that didn't agree with their lifestyle would attend, if only due to the fact they understood that just because you don't like the decisions other do about their love lives it doesn't mean you can't respect them.

Judy's excitement hadn't allowed her to sleep last night, she was literally bouncing on the walls, there were a lot of things to prepare but before she could start she heard knocking on her door.

When she opened it she saw her fox standing near the doorway, not even when he had pretended to be shot by the nighthowler toxin he had looked so predatory.

-"We are coming out of the closet tonight Carrots, you know what that means"- His sly grin showed his sharp teeth.

-"We don't have to hide anymore"- She purred in response, when he lunged at her all she could do was giggle helpless as the large predator took her in his arms and threw her on the bed.

…

The ceremony had gotten too big to be hidden, but by the time the higher authorities realized what it was about they could not stop it, it had grown out of their control.

Thousands of mammals of every different species heard with bated breath the speech of the tiny skunk. Reverend Skankton spoke below the stage lights

-"My brothers and sisters, we are all different but we were all made in our lords image, he made us with our flaws and qualities and he told us to love others as much as we love ourselves. Now society keeps telling us that we are all equals, but as soon as we demand equal treatment we are punished because of our differences. We are told we are too weak, or too small, or too big , or too dangerous to get what we want. Society shields behind notions of morals to do awful things and convince us they are doing what is right, they prosecute the innocents and turn a blind eye on the guilty, and in the meantime they keep the helpless down while the strong gain power. Today, society chose in the inters the scapegoat du jour, but don't think for a second that just because you are not one of them you shall be safe. Because tomorrow when the inters are gone they will come after the homosexuals, and when _they_ are gone they will go after the foreigners, and on and on the wave of hate will continue until none of us are left.

These set of rules do not come from god, they come from us. God loves the inters, the homosexuals, the foreigners, the preys and predators as much as he loves anyone else. We are the ones who hate and divide not him, so today we say no more. Tonight we take a stand so the wave of hate dies before it takes more lives, today we march to the capitol demanding this city and this country to repeal this initiative so we as citizens don't have to carry the blame of the crimes against mammalkind this thing can cause. Tonight we begin the fight so this hate doesn't kill our society from the inside!"- A loud cheer of thousands of voices cause a rumble through Zootopia, it could be heard from every corner of the city. With a tiny paw over his tiny muzzle the reverend managed to shush the gargantuan holler of battle cries.

-"But before our march, a good friend of mine and fellow activist has decided to join us. Please welcome… Gazelle!"-

The pop diva emerged from behind the skunk with her group of tiger back up dancers in tow. This time she didn't sing her usual light pop songs, she sang a cover from an old tune written by her own idol, Growlton John. The old large lion, icon of love ballads for over three decades played the piano and sang by her side.

 **I believe in love, it's all we got**

 **Love has no boundaries, no borders to cross**

 **Love is simple, hate breeds**

 **Those who think difference is the child of disease**

When the song was over she didn't spoke to the crowd, the diva chose to use actions instead of words. In front of every media outlet, broadcasted by several news channels, she placed her arms around one of her backup dancers and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips.

…..

The march towards the capitol was massive, in the front of the march were Judy and Nick, holding hands and posing for the cameras. A lovely picture of them in a Hollywood style kiss went viral around the world in a few minutes. Gazelle marched in the middle, the diva had to be protected from upcoming attacks so a large gathering of protesters circled around her along with her own security team, at her right was her boyfriend and at her left her number one fan. Clawhouser hadn't stopped crying from happiness ever since the pop singer had thanked him for starting all of this and had been more than happy to let him march by her side in the protest.

Yet the most iconic picture that would represent the whole inter pride movement came from an unexpected source. It was a spontaneous shot of Chief Bogo, he stood tall and proud over a large herd of bunnies, riding over his shoulders was Chief Mau waving a multicolored flag representing the inter community.

None or the mammals marching expected to end prejudice against their way of life with just a single protest, acceptance is a long hard road that takes years to be fulfilled and can be destroyed much more easily than they would like to admit. But they were fighting, and for now that is all that mattered.

The end

…

Author's note: There might be an aftermath story in the future to tie up the remaining loose ends but for now I think this kinda open ending fits well with the story. Thank you for all your reviews I hope you liked it.


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